sleep paralysis was blamed on "sex-crazed demons" who had their "wicked way with their paralysed, helpless victims", a belief "beautifully illustrated" in Henri Fuseli's 1781 painting "The Nightmare".

One of these is that of demons, as beautifully illustrated in a famous painting, The Nightmare by Henri Fuseli, dating back to 1781. “In Europe in the Middle Ages, sleep paralysis episodes were ...